POULTRY NEWS

New Delhi: More than 8.74 lakh birds have been culled in four states and one union territory so far this year in order to control the spread of bird flu disease in the country, the Parliament was informed today.

There has been no loss of human life so far. The control and containment operations are still going on in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.As per the data placed before the Upper House, more than 8.74 lakh birds were culled so far this year.

Bhutan for the first time exported eggs to India last week.The agriculture ministry sent about 105 cartons or 800 trays of eggs worth more than Nu 0.17 million in its first consignment to Kolkata, India.

The minister said that there were too many eggs in the market, which is why the ministry decided to try exporting it to India.

BJP MP Poonam Mahajan has urged McDonald’s India to end the procurement of eggs from battery cage facilities and start sourcing only cage-free eggs in its supply chain.

India is the third largest egg-producing country in the world, with approximately 120 million egg -laying hens that are bred in cruel, commercial battery cages that are typically as long as an A4 size paper. Battery cages are named so as they are stacked one on top of the other like batteries. While McDonald’s has promised to phase out battery cages in many countries, there has been no commitment from them in India despite repeated efforts from animal welfare advocates.

Dealing primarily in cash, the Rs 100,000 crore Indian poultry industry has been hit badly because of liquidity tightness at both individual and bulk consumers following demonetisation of high-value currency notes.

Not only demand of chicken and eggs has declined sharply during the last one month since the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes was announced on November, but also their prices fell by 40-50 per cent since then. Now, poultry farmers have slowed breeding of chicks to lower their cost to cope up with weak demand from individual and bulk consumers.

With 26 crore eggs and 1 crore chicks a day, India is among the top-5 poultry players in the world. For the domestic poultry industry, which engages about 60 lakh farmers and labourers, the November-January winter period, when more eggs and chicken are consumed, is normally a very lucrative season.

Upcountry markets consume more eggs and chicken in the winter. In an average year, the Northern markets consume 60 per cent more eggs and chicken. But this year, chicken retail outlets wear a deserted look with consumers spending their money sparingly.

The sudden cash crunch and change crisis left many roadside enterprises wringing their hands. With buyers on the decline, poultry farmers put up their own retail stalls on highways and offered the meat at almost 50 percent of the market cost. "Just like the tomato glut scene in Andhra Pradesh, it was tragic that poultry farmers of Medak, Ranga Reddy and Nalgonda, along with their families, lined up on highways to dispose of their stocks daily.

HYDERABAD: At a time when demonetisation is threatening to deal a death blow to the poultry industry and framers across the state, finance minister Etela Rajender assured that government will come to the rescue of poultry farmers.

“November to January is a very crucial period for poultry farmers and industry. But demonetisation has affected the industry harshly. We have been keeping track of the losses incurred by the sector and are exploring various ways to mitigate the losses and protect them,” he said speaking at the Poultry India Expo in Hyderabad on Wednesday, which was attended by poultry farmers and industry stakeholders from across India and abroad.

Hyderabad: Surreptitious drug-evading bacteria with heightened virulence and ability to infect humans have turned up in chickens in India, scientists said, indicating an “alarming” consequence of the nation’s fast-growing poultry industry and the misuse of antibiotics.

As much as 11 per cent of chickens sampled in the markets of Hyderabad carried multidrug-resistant bacteria commonly found in birds and known to sicken people, a study found.

INDORE: Post demonetisation, sale of poultry products has dropped steeply due to lack of cash flow in the market. Subdued purchase by consumers in the peak demand season weighed on the prices of poultry products.

Industry experts said discontinuation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 note from the market has dried funds and created severe shortage of lower denomination notes.

The sharp fall in the demand for poultry consumption has led to a drop in the prices of poultry products.

About 200 Indian and 50 international exhibitors from over 30 countries are expected to attend the 10th edition of Poultry India's Expo to be held here from tomorrow to November 25.

Nearly 800 industry delegates from India and South Asian nations are likely to attend the 'Knowledge Day 2016', a seminar to be held on the first day. Prominent speakers will talk at the event on issues concerning the poultry industry.

Vijayawada: Poultry farmers are badly hit with sharp fall in egg prices after demonetisation of high denomination notes.Marginal farmers having one lakh hen are losing at least Rs 60,000 a day on sale of eggs and the losses are higher for the farmers having below one lakh hen.With the money transactions becoming difficult across the country due to demonetisation, the egg dealers are refusing to buy eggs from local farmers and they are offering lesser prices than fixed by the NECC.

HYDERABAD: The Indian poultry sector hopes profit margins will improve considerably this winter season, ending a four-year weak streak as good rains have increased activity in the rural economy and reduced feed costs.

Anticipating a decent increase in demand, poultry breeders are preparing to boost production by 10-15 per cent, after pruning production and importing feed ingredients for three years owing to recurrent droughts.

The Maharashtra government has decided to set up ‘intensive poultry development’ blocks in 14 districts on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis chaired.

“Intensive poultry development blocks will be set up in 14 districts on a PPP basis,” an official in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said. At present, there are a few poultry groups in 16 districts. The decision would allow 28 more to be set up across the state.

Drop is temperature due to cloudy sky is expected to keep feed intake, egg production and egg shell quality at normal.As the northeast monsoon was over the southern districts, drop in temperature in the region would not affect the bird’s health. But poultry farmers were asked to control moisture level in feed ingredients such as maize and soya bean meal to sustain production. Also, farmers were asked not to stock feed for long time.

The current bout of bird flu won't have any impact on India's poultry as it is limited to just wild birds senior minister from the Central government claimed even as both the Central and National government engaged on a war of words over who should held responsible for controlling the spread.

NEW DELHI: The three birds confirmed to have died of avian flu in Delhi zoo had contracted the H5N8 variant of the virus -a relatively new strain -not known to infect humans till now. Revealing this after getting a lab report, Delhi development minister Gopal Rai said on Friday that there was no threat of bird flu to Delhiites as of now, especially because no cases of infected chickens had been reported from the Ghazipur wholesale market. More than 2 lakh chickens are trucked into the mandi daily.

Panaji: India is going to be one of the leading nations in Asia to embrace the immune complex (IC) vaccine, said Dr Marcelo Paniago, director, global veterinary services, Ceva Sante Animal, France. He was speaking on the subject of immune complex diseases at an event organized by the ICAR-CCARI, Old Goa, on Thursday.

"In India, there is a revolution in terms of nutrition, animal health and vaccines. The immune complex vaccine, in one or two years, will be available here in India. I have no doubt that the producers will rapidly adopt it because it makes their lives much easier." he said.

With a growth of almost 8 per cent per annum, India is among the leading countries of modern poultry development, Mr. Eknath B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (CCARI) said here on Thursday.

“The poultry industry is thinking about welfare of the birds to ensure hygienic food-concepts on par with the industry in the Western world," Dr. Sanjay Gavkare, General Manager (Technical) of Pune-based Venkateshwara Hatcheries said.